Highly active anti-retroviral therapy has successfully reduced the morbidity and mortality of AIDS patients. However, the side effects associated with long term drug usage and the emerging of multi-drug resistance viruses have undermined the effectiveness of current treatment. Therefore, new anti-HIV-1 agents with novel mechanism of action have the potential to improve current AIDS therapy. The goal of this study is to identify novel anti-HIV-1 agents from traditional Chinese herb medicines. We have screened many Chinese medicines for anti-HIV activity and found one that possessed potent anti-HIV activity. This anti-HIV Chinese medicine, Sophora Alkaloids Tannate (SAT), was used widely for its anti-inflammatory activity as an over the counter medicine in China. We hypothesized that SAT contains one or several anti-HIV compounds that can inhibit HIV-1 replication. This hypothesis will be tested by pursuing the following specific aims: 1. Identify the active components in SAT that are responsible for the anti-HIV activity. 2. Determine the mechanisms of anti-HIV-1 action of each active compound in SAT. Results derived from this study are expected to provide useful information to determine whether the anti-HIV compounds isolated from SAT has the potential to be developed into anti-HIV drugs for AIDS therapy. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The objective of this R21 application is to identify the active component(s) from a Chinese traditional herbal medicine "Sophora Alkaloids Tannate" that has shown potent anti-HIV activity.